Glendalough and the Spinc

Another spectacular glacial valley in Ireland that is the well trodden is Glendalough in Co Wicklow.

That photo was taken really early one Saturday or Sunday morning, two summers ago and it turned out to be a scorchio day so me and my pal Susan even ended up going for a dip in the little rock pools on our way back.

But the rest of the snaps were taken on a recent and dull, wet and very windy, average Irish day.

This is the route we took, the White Route http://www.wicklowmountainsnationalpark.ie/walkingtrails.html, which starts at this little waterfall....

Before beginning the steep ascent up these sleepers......

You go up 600 of these and then come out on top of the valley and walk all along the top of the cliff until it starts to meet a river...... and you come to this bridge.....

If you run out of water worry not you can have some of the fresh stream water to quench your climbing thirst, well we drank it anyway and we're still alive.....

After you cross the bridge you'll have a view something like this.....

See the lake in the background? That's where you'll have come from.......

You'll keep walking all along this big, powerful flow of water, it had been raining heavily, so it was a fearsome flow the day we went.....

Keep descending and just as you arrive on the flat you'll get to the old mining village.......

Here we are exploring after our big climbing expedition.........

You'll then walk back along the shore of the lake to the car park. It costs 2 euro to park so have change. It's really not that tough of a walk at all, the initial ascent is a bit hard going at first but the rest is a doodle and the views are fantastic all along the way. Walking very fast and without a break you can do it in 2 hours but just taking it handy it'll take 3.